our god saves

I am absolutely, 100% tired. Physically AND mentally.  Today has been a really good day. I didn't wake up early or work out, or do my readings (plan to do that tonight) but I took advantage of nap time and got a lot done. Last night when we got back from grocery shopping, I rushed to get our turkey and potato ready for supper. (We left the Turkey cooking in the oven for 4 hours). Peter kindly did up the dishes and I gave the kids a bath. I can't even tell you how helpful that was. That saved me a lot of time!

When the kids went to bed, I organized three cupboards, our baking center, cleaned up our messy table, put away dishes, and swept the floor. I got rid of things that didn't belong in the kitchen and it just felt so good to get some of that stuff done. I sprayed the oven last night, too, so that when I woke up, I could clean it. I cleaned the top oven first while the kids were finishing up breakfast and waited to do the bottom oven when they went down for a nap. it is CLEAN now and I put aluminum foil to catch any further spills. I also made some black bean brownies, prepared for supper tonight, sewed two border strips onto my quilt, and messed around with some of kate's projects for her birthday. I also prepared some homemade Turkey stock in the crock-pot. That will cook for about 20 or so hours. Peter played with the girls so I could finish up the dishes again from supper and then the girls and I made some strawberry - rhubarb gluten free muffins. They fought a little but Kate really loves to pour and mix.... she had lots of fun. I am really looking forward to baking with her in the future, Lord willing.

Tonight I plan to sit with the heating pad if you know what I mean, and read Philemon and part of Hebrews. Tomorrow we have a fun play date planned with a family from church.

Today I tried to reflect and pray for the Haiti Rescue Center.  You can read what is happening there.... can't imagine. This is their latest update:

Real Hope for Haiti

Twins ill again. Both back on IV's. Another child from RC has 105.6 fever and having seizures. Another child from clinic today on oxygen. Long night ahead of us.

Please, please pray.  All I can do is think of my children being in that situation. I get so dissapointed when I have to take care of my children when I am ill - I could not imagine all of us being sick at once and not being able to rest in an actual bed. But on a chair. and knowing one of my children might not make it. 

 

Our God Saves

new meals--leaky gut diet

It's been about 4 or so weeks since Peter first began the detox diet. I gave reference to the "leaky gut syndrome" awhile ago.. I remember searching for meal ideas and really not coming up with anything. At that time, I was terrified. But now, I can say that I've got it, for the most part, under control. I don't always have a willing husband to try my recipes, but I am full of ideas. I wonder how life would be without the internet. I suppose I would have to buy lots of cookbooks.... and do less baking.

The first two weeks were strictly gluten, dairy, and sugar free... no potatoes, rice, honey, eggs, really- nothing. He could have beef, some pork, chicken, and turkey. We thought that was bad. The third week we thought maybe he'd be done with the diet soon... but he added oats, beans and honey into the diet. Hey, that's pretty good!! Peter was definitely happy and that's when I could use more of the recipes I had bookmarked. His meals included:

Hamburger, no bun, sauted onions. Steak. Grilled chicken with this rub: 1 T lime juice, 1 T olive oil, spices: garlic salt, onion powder, chili powder, salt, pepper (to your liking) Grilled Tilapia in a pouch with lemon juice, salt and pepper, onions; Roasted Turkey-- my trick, by chance, was roasting it upside down so that the dark meat's juices would drip onto the white meat. I would pat dry, rub down with olive oil, rub under the skin and pour olive oil in, also stuff with garlic cloves, lemon peel, and sprinkle with onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, and tarragon. Other variations: Steak and chicken kebabs, tacos with homemade seasonings, and really, lots of other things. Once the brown rice, beans and oatmeal were included, we had so much more to work with: black bean brownies (sorry, don't have the link, easy to find though!) we put gluten free oats in his shake that he was having daily (4 ice cubes, 2-3 frozen chunks of banana, his hemp protein mix, handful of blueberries, 1-2 whole strawberries, enough coconut milk / watered down pineapple juice to cover and mix to your liking) I like mine to be a little bit thick, and he likes his more watery.  He could have oatmeal for breakfast instead of just his huge bowl of coconut yogurt and fruit. He also was eating turkey sausage and bacon from the health-food store for breakfast, for added protein. Once we made turkey and one ham, he would take those along too for a snack, for added protein.

The next week, though, with thinking he'd be able to open up another range of foods, to our surprise I received a phone call from Peter saying that they took a step BACK. His doctor took away beef, which pretty much was his main source of food during those two weeks (every other day was a hamburger or steak). So, one week without beef, the second week he cannot have ANY meat, and the third week he can have the turkey, chicken, and fish again.... although he should mostly have fish.  Yikes! This was a huge blow to us, because we had such high hopes of opening more food. Like, maybe eggs. This was when I seriously began to shop around for bread mixes, different flours, and look for recipes including rice and beans. It was hard to find ideas at first but once I got introduced to the really good sites, I got more and more ideas. So, the first week on a beef-less diet included:  another turkey. He really did eat turkey leftovers for a few days because he had to... he was busy in the field. I bought him some Italian chicken-type brats at Target that he thought was good. We had Turkey tacos, I also bought a gluten free rice tortilla at Hugos in the freezer section. We made homemade fruit roll-ups, dehydrated fruit, a young chicken roasted, Brazilian beans and rice ,  chicken-broccoli stir-fry (olive oil and lemon juice, tarragon marinade) and I really can't remember what else. It wasn't too bad...though we really did have it good when he could have his beef.

So, we are almost finished with week #2 in the no meats, and I can really say it's gone by well.. but only because I know people were praying for us! Strength is what we had. I came up with some good recipes to help get through this weird time and he actually liked them. For a moment, we thought he couldn't have oats again because his doctor told him he couldn't... but after a few days of cooked Quinoa and Buckwheat, he was craving oatmeal so he asked if he could buy the gluten free oatmeal, which was a YES, so that indeed, made him crazy-happy.  The Quinoa wasn't that bad, really. Just cook 1 cup with 2 cups of water with some raisins, sliced thin chunks of apple, and in about 10 or so minutes it's ready. First soak in cold water for 5 minutes, drain, and then boil for 5 minutes and simmer for the rest, until the liquid is gone. I added blueberries because i love them.

So, the first dinner we had included veggie skewers on dirty rice. I got the recipe here .  This is one of my fav. sites to look for recipes.

I made fried potatoes (originally baked and cut up when cooled, and cooked in olive oil with salt and pepper.  The Quinoa recipe is here . I thought it was good, but i added too much spice so it was a little hard to eat. I bet these would be good on the rice tortillas. We put his on some salad.

 Here is a photo of a really good blueberry breakfast 'cake' that i just made in my banana loaf pan. http://happyherbivore.com/recipe/blueberry-coffee-cake/

I made a successful bread loaf , but used Pamelas bread mix. I realized the trick is to not let it rise too high, because it will keep rising as it bakes, and while the oven is preheating! By the time my loaf got into the oven it was oozing out of the pan. Also, what worked was to put parchment paper on the sides so I could lift the bread out of the pan.

My pasta bake turned out pretty good. Peter really actually hates all pasta bakes, or usually prefers to eat them once a month... so for him to eat this and think it was okay... is good. :) I used asparagus vs. the zucchini that it called for and i obviously just made one single serving vs. a whole casserole. Nutritional yeast is quite cheap and it is supposed to be a vegan's 'Parmesan' cheese. I also used the yeast in the millet cakes, down below.




Other things I've tried, so far (worth writing about):
Bean Burgers
Blueberry Scones (Just a note, i used an egg replacer (you can buy this at the health food store) and used coconut  milk with 1 T lemon juice) and then added 1 tsp guar gum. I added fresh blueberries, not chocolate or cherries.  Because I didn't use an actual egg, these turned out more like a fluffy cookie... which is fine by me! It didn't rise as high as the picture even though I still used 2 tsp. of baking powder.
Best ever banana bread
Awesome pancakes
 No Bake Glo Cakes

That's it, for now! tonight i spent at least a half hour making meal plans for the girls and I, and Peter... at least 2 weeks for the girls and i almost got through one week with peter. Its hard to know how to plan when some days he might be in the field.... one day at a time I guess!

meal plan

Right now my kids are inhaling Peters gluten, dairy, and egg free bread/toast with peanut butter and honey. I am glad someone is eating it!  This morning has been a really good day so far. Today was the prayer summit at church and my time slot was 5:15. A train went through at about 4am. and I remember looking at the clock thinking... oh no!! I have to wake up soon.  It really wasn't hard at all. The minute my alarm went off, i was basically up. It went really well. I got my tea, I brought some banana bread (regular, not gluten free) and headed out the door.  The prayer summit is a really neat experience if your church ever offers it. We started with 12, one -hour increments, and now its a full 24 hours! I am sure you're thinking..... how can you pray for a whole hour!?  I would say 20-30 minutes is preparing your heart for prayer, praising God, cleansing and forgiving of sins, and then prayer. We get these prayer request sheets with 3 requests submitted by those in the church with things they want prayer for... and then we pray for them. We don't know who they are, we just know their requests. Also, it is a time to be fully silent, rebuking satans attempts to distract us, and we listen to God fill us with things we should be praying about.  A really neat experience.

Today i am having a play date and making peter a protein salad...  I'll let you know how it goes...along with the other meals i've made. and perhaps pictures.  not anticipating that he will love it, or even like it for that matter, but hoping he can and will eat it.  I have partially made a meal plan but dont have many lunch ideas. I asked him at least 3 times what I could make for him and he didn't offer any ideas, so I hope he is okay with this. Better go... busy day!

random

Today starts the beginning of my husbands 'No meat' diet.  So far I have made a pretty good bread (that he will eat) and I ended up using a premixed assortment of flours and then added extra ingredients. It turned out pretty good. The last couple days it has been rainy and cold so we really haven't at all spent much time outside, which has been hard for the kids (and me) but hoping it will warm up soon, especially so that the guys can finish seeding.

I have been researching recipes like crazy and coming up with some new ones to try- but the cost of food is sooo expensive and so I am hoping I can get through all the flour I bought and also hope that I don't have to buy anymore! We tried hot Quino cereal the last couple days, and it's pretty good. It fills me up and it's easy to make. I had that this morning with the gluten free bread with some jam purchased from the health food store. So far on my list this week, I have written down : Black Bean Burgers with homemade gluten free buns (wish me luck on those!!)  pancakes,  mashed potato bake,  veggie skewers on dirty rice, Quino dish with veggies,  and a few more.  I think he also plans to have cold and hot cereals as meals at times too... lots of fruits and veggies.  He still is not able to eat dairy, gluten and sugar along with oats and tomatoes, etc., but he IS able to have potatoes and rice, which is a huge huge praise because i'm not sure how he could get through it without it. It has definitely been a learning process and I guess I am grateful for the learning opportunity but I am hoping it ends soon. I feel so bad for anyone who has to do this long-term. Hopefully just a couple more weeks of this and we're done... though that is doubtful. I have enjoyed the banana & blueberry bread because it's tons more healthier and easier to digest -- and i'm sure if i have flour left i will continue to make those things. I have also enjoyed drinking tea, which i am totally not a tea drinker, but I found a really good tea that has been fun to drink.

This week we hope to till the garden and plant that, and just to be with the kids. I am still not working out regularly but waiting for the go-ahead from God. Today I read Philemon and Hebrews 1-5. I have been really hit with how much encouragment is needed daily and so I am trying to do more of that with my friends or just anyone I feel led to. My challenge to you is to go out of your way to encourage someone - do you ever feel nudged to do something nice for someone and then it fizzles away? Don't let it. Do it right away!!  I have two things i'm doing today to be an encouragement to someone.

  At church we are doing a prayer summit and I signed up for the 5:15 a.m. slot... I am sort of dreading it but I know it will feel so good once i'm done. A lot of random thoughts, I know, but that's who I am.   Today I am thankful for friends who really do encourage me and who are not always against me. My friends who are constantly building me up. Thank you!

here it is...

finished!

rushed

if i could explain the last few days in one word, I would say: rush. I am rushing to get breakfast ready, rush to get everyone dressed, rushed to go to the park, rushed to come home and make lunch, rush to clean as much as I can before they get up... etc.  It is FARMING season! and almost summer. I can't even believe it.  Lately I have been exercising, well, okay, the last 4 or so months. The last month, though, I haven't lost but one pound. And it's been a huge struggle because when I wake up in the morning, I get through my bible readings and then someone wakes up. Also every time I tried to exercise, even during naps, it would get interrupted. I finally noticed that maybe God was telling me something. Take a week off. That's really what I thought I heard.  I have been so stressed as to 'when am I going to get exercising in' or 'i can't keep the house clean b/c i have to exercise' or bitter because someone woke up early and i couldn't exercise.  Today I was a much happier momma and I am so glad I listened. I hope that God will honor my efforts to be obedient in that even though it is really hard.

I honestly don't have much time to write because I am supposed to be in bed (but couldn't sleep) because  my mind and body has been racing all day. It is hard for me to shut down sometimes. Tonight I prepared for a 4 layer carrot cake I was asked to make for a bridal shower on Saturday. I sure hope it turns out. So, I am supposed to wake up early tomorrow and start that... we'll see what happens. I am really glad that I prepared for it tonight though. i got all my dry ingredients out and measured, and I peeled all my carrots and set up the food processor so i'm all ready to go. I hope to be up by 6 or so... we'll see how that goes.  I really should go though... just really wanted to write. More later!

questions answered

HELLO!!!! I will try to answer every question I can:

For the banner:   I just went to joannes and picked out the colors I wanted, shabby chic of course, and got about 1/4 of a yard of each to start me out. I cut them into about 3 inch strips with my rotary cutter, and cut and cut and cut until I ran out of fabric.  I am thinking that I went to Joannes about 2 or 3 times at least; I had about 5 different choices of fabric. I made the mistake of getting a half a yard, and then trying to cut them into strips-- bad idea. Obviously they were longer and I didn't want to sew the leftovers. So it'd be better to just get 1/4 of a yard, twice, of the same fabric, if that makes sense.  I went to Lowes for the rope... it was pretty cheap at about $2-3 and had them cut it for me.  Then, all I did to assemble was tie the tops of the fabric onto the rope and let it hang down. The middle I let it hang longer; some were longer than others and that's okay, I wanted the layered affect.




Cake Banner:  I went to a local celebration store (like party city or something) and picked up two white plastic sticks that normally are holders for the helium balloons they have there.









Here’s what you’ll need:


Scrapbook paper (cardstock, in any colors that you’d like)
Small letter stickers (or pre-lettered scrapbook circles)
Measuring spoons
Needle and thread
A pencil
Two straws
Scissors
Double-sided tape or hot glue glue



I began with a table spoon measuring spoon and traced on my scrapbooking paper (Joannes) that I chose and then I tried to cut out on my white cardstock a slightly bigger circle. I bought some glittery stickers and put them on the colored cardstock, (Michaels) and then glued that to the white cardstock.  Next, thread the needle, then feed it through the first straw near the top. This is hard.. because its really thick straw. You could use a regular straw, too. I just wanted mine to be white. :)  Then when you're finally through the straw, poke the needle through the front of the first circle, on the left side.  Pull the thread through to the back, then poke the needle through the back of the right side. Do this until you get through each circle. Thread the needle through the second straw.  Center the circles between the straws, allowing enough room for them to drape a little, then cut the thread and tie the ends off on both sides. I just kind of let my string hang in case something happened to my banner, i could pull the thread to straighten it out.





Drinking straws, found here.
Lollypops, ordered here. (though I see they are sold out)
Cake pop recipe and tutorial here  The only difference is that I just dipped them as they were (after in the freezer for a while) and used pink and blue candy melts. I did use a little oil in the candy melts so they weren't as thick. Be quick! The cake pops will fall off your stick if you are not quick. It is time consuming but thankfully I could work on them all day. I would just keep my cake pops in the fridge, and do a few at a time and just reheat my candy melts.


Cupcake Stands:

I purchased the candle sticks here. I bought the unfinished wood pieces at Michaels - they are about 20 cents a peice. Easy! I spray painted each of them first, and then hot glued the wood pieces together, and then sprayed painted again. This was a long process, too, because it needed several coats.

Cupcake Wrapper tutorial found here and here, though I used doilies, mine were extremely frail and fell over. So i just used my card stock paper, found at Joannes.

Ruffle Garland inspired through a few different places but here's a book mark I had here and here
to help teach me how to make the ruffle. Eventually I needed help from my mother in law because my sewing machine was acting up.

MASON JARS

I cut out a template from my cricut machine and taped them onto the mason jars. Then I just took my chalkboard paint, and globbed it on. This took several, several coats but eventually after the paint finally 'took' it was easier to apply. It dries quickly so you can do several in a day. Just make sure you are very careful when you take off the template (I cut out several templates, it would be a pain to have to retape for each) when I'd pull off my template, the paint came with it. Eventually I just blobbed a template of my own on because I was sick of it!





Her dress brand name is "Biscotti" - I can't remember what type of dress though, I got it off of Ebay. These dresses are pretty spendy but I lucked out and found one on Ebay. I can't remember exactly what other questions there were because all of the comments were erased, but I'll add to this once new questions are asked. Hope this helps!

failure

Well, yesterday had been a fairly good day. Mostly because I found out I was featured  on TomKat's blog. I had been waiting to see when it would happen, and it just stinks it had to be yesterday. I had gotten at least 14-15 comments and over 1,000 page views yesterday, and the comments are gone now due to maintenance on the blogger server. The worst part was that no one else could even view it or post comments either, which isn't a huge deal, but now the comments that were left are gone, and I have no idea what other questions people had.  So, if you are reading, I am working on a new post to answer some of the questions on how I did the party in details, instead of getting back to each one individually.

Yesterday I made some chocolate cupcakes for my sisters graduation and nephews birthday. The girls really weren't behaving in the morning, and i ended up licking a lot of frosting and eating a few mini cupcakes. Not only that, i pigged out on rice (which has tons of calories) for lunch and just felt awful the whole day.  I am sure you're thinking: big deal.... but to me, it is about self control and I have been having issues with that lately. I wasn't hungry for those foods, so why am I eating them and why can't I stop? It's like I have to be munching on something constantly. I look at my husband who is on this detox diet, can't have any treats or anything, and he is doing awesome! He bought a gluten free cookie a few days ago, and he still hasn't touched it. If it were me, I would have devoured it the second I paid for it. What is the deal?

Then today I am feeling like an utter, complete FAILURE because I thought maybe I should be doing more potty training stuff with Maddy. She seems interested and has been telling us on occasion when she needs to poop (though has never done anything on the potty yet) and mostly I have been terrified after the trouble I had with kate... see here and here. I dont want to do this. I really don't. I wish I could send her somewhere to get potty trained, I really do.  I don't want to do this.

So, today she pees through her underwear a few times, which is fine. But she is dripping so I try to put her on the big potty and low and behold, she is freaking out. Just like Kate did. And all of a sudden, she is asking for a diaper.  I start to bawl. I begin to beg God, please, don't let this happen again. How can I make potty training fun?  I don't even know how to do this. Why can't I potty train a child?  Is it just my kids?  What am I doing wrong? I feel like a failure.  Do you bring the potty chair with everywhere you go? Do you just focus on being with them the entire day, not leaving their side? Do you do a buzzer?  I have tried all these things, (with kate) and they never worked for me. People kept telling me, "she's not ready yet" but she was... she was just scared. With Kate, I kept asking her, "do you have to go potty? " over and over, and she became resistant to that because that's all she heard. All of a sudden, she was holding her pee and became defiant because she didn't want me to 'win' by asking her to go pee and actually doing it. It's like it was a game... and she was of course, scared of the potty. Maddy isn't scared, yet, but I AM!! I don't want to mess it up... how do i do this?

dreary weather

well today i did NOT get up early, but I still got my devotions in this morning, just barely though. Maddy was up at 6, not really sure why, so we brought her into our room and she never did fall back asleep. So i laid in bed with her until 7. This week I am still getting up at 6:30 for my bible readings and then I shower. I do my workouts during nap time because that seems to be the best and most logical thing to do. That way, I for SURE get a shower in! (which is important) I feel like during nap time I really can't do anything that is loud, such as dishes, showering, vacuuming, etc. So i really have to pick my chores wisely. That's why I chose to do my exercising then.

I realize, too, that though it might be slow, I need to , every day, do some type of organizing. So this week I am mostly focusing on my room. I cleaned out my clothes and jeans that are hanging or folded in my closet. I haven't tackled any other drawers yet, but I put away all my "bigger" clothing and winter clothing. I am going to go through some magazines that are lying around and then the things that are on the floor of our closet. It has been a sigh of relief to be 'on top of things' for the most part. I have been keeping up with the dishes and starting the dishwasher and everything washed before nap, making more use of my time in the mornings instead of my workouts. Yesterday at 8am during breakfast I did the dishes from the night before (I had bible study, so unable to do dishes before bed). Anyway, that's what I'm up to this week.

The next few days looks like it's going to b e cold so we'll be staying in, which means I have to find things inside to do. I  printed off a TON of stuff for the kids and I do to, along with many, many, many good recipes (healthy too) and organized them in three different binders. I am feeling organized!! I bought over 100 protector sheets and put all my printed recipes in there -   I made black bean brownies yesterday.... pretty good!!   Today I am making chocolate cupcakes for my sisters graduation and nephews birthday so i'm sure me and the girls will do that this morning. It kind of stinks, i am not much for willpower anymore... I hope I don't overindulge!!  

Also, some exciting news, I am  featured for Madelyn's birthday! I had three top blogs in mind and they responded immediately. Take a look!
Here's some pictures I put on facebook yesterday:(Took advantage of my frozen meal from last week and made it yesterday while we were out of the house. I set my oven to delay and it was done when we got home................... doing that more often!)

fun pictures

Monday was a good day! I tried to do some organizing as I was reminded yesterday of my NY Resolutions.... I got some of my old clothes put away. Hopefully I can keep up with the organizing! I even emptied out my hotmail account... you know, all the old emails that I don't need to keep. I guess that's all for now... better do some more since the kids are in bed!

Happy Moms Day

I have been re-evaluating my 2011 Resolutions and I am really not doing too bad. I think the organization thing comes and goes, depending really on what we have going on for the week. When we have a lot, my house is really trashed and it becomes overwhelming to know even where to start... but if I work hard at it, I know I can keep it up (with a few reminders to the rest of my family).  The baking thing has been excellent. I have kept up nicely with that... crafting... not so much, but occasionally for events like baby showers I am able to make a couple homemade gifts. This last week I made a fabric banner and a blanket. I am probably good for another few months!

I am really doing well (this is not on my list) with waking up early and doing my bible readings for the day and then exercising. That also very very very much depends on when my kids get up. I had started getting up at 6:45 and i'd get about 15 minutes and that was it. Now i've started at 6:30, and that way i can get my coffee or tea ready, and have enough time to at least read, and then maybe get a workout in. I have switched to pilates for now since my body is used to my workout routine. I was stuck at 10 pounds, and I recently just lost another pound just by switching.  I really just want to tone now, not lose anymore weight. If that's possible. Hopefully inches will be coming off my lower body instead of my top!!

So, today was mother's day. It really reminds me how much Peter really does appreciate me and wants to do nice things for me. He made me some scones, pumpkin even (my fav) and coffee,

and got me a nice hanging flower basket, a cookbook, and a floor steamer! I was hoping I could get one some time because really mopping floors is non existent lately, and I just need something that will disinfect... so hoping this will get used and that it is the right machine for me. Anyway, time to go... thanks for reading!

been so long!

I can't believe it's been so long since I updated my blog!  Let's see, what have I been doing since April 15th, almost a whole month ago!  Well, a lot I'm sure. It's 7 a.m. and so far everyone else is still sleeping. I got up thinking it was 8.... and when I realized it was 7, I decided that if I am going to get any computer time, I better get up. I haven't edited a single picture in at least a week, and I thought i'd write on my blog and do some other things.  I am also hoping to do some exercising so I don't have to waste time later... or read my bible, which has been nice to do in the morning instead of at night. But I have a feeling I am going to have company real soon. Oh well. I feel like I have to get up at 6 just to have some time by myself in the morning.

It has been a little over a week since Peter started his "detoxifying" diet. It's a nutritional diet to repair his stomach. It's called Leaky Gut Syndrome and he basically can't have... well , it'd be easier to say what he CAN have:  Most raw fruits and vegetables, and meats (except not a lot of pork). It has been a real headache to have to figure out meals.. and talk about expensive too!! So that's been on our minds lately, along with trying to plant with this never ending winter weather.  This week I am preparing for a baby shower which has taken up a lot of my free time.   Also with my diet, I have not lost a single pound in probably two weeks. So i've hit a 'plateau' and am going to start a different exercise workout, - hoping it works.  I think that's all for now. I need to edit photos!